Who said americas business is business

If relief were possible, those who were able to provide it could well afford to be charged with considering nothing but the material side of life, with advocating a penurious and cheeseparing policy, and with neglecting to supply the public needs. If a remedy could be found, when it was put into operation business would revive, profits would increase, employment would be plentiful, wages would be good, the distress of the people would be relieved, and a general condition of contentment and prosperity would prevail.

Whatever criticisms there might be against those who had labored to secure this result, the satisfactory condition of the country would be a sufficient answer and a sufficient reward. The evils and abuses of Government extravagance were perfectly apparent. It was believed, and as experience has demonstrated, correctly believed, that the distress of the country would be relieved if Government extravagance ceased. It was for this purpose that the radical and revolutionary system was adopted of centralizing in the President the primary authority for the recommendation of all departmental estimates and establishing, for his information and advice, the Bureau of the Budget.

Seemingly without effort, but actually by hard and effective work, the change was wrought. Each of the succeeding years brought an ever-increasing improvement in the business of government.

Billions were cut from the public debt with a large saving of interest. The first tax reduction came in November, , and was followed by three succeeding reductions. Funds were saved to meet the cost of our much-needed public improvements, which had been in abeyance during the war period. Short-time notes and long-time bonds were paid off and refunded at lower rates. Working in that spirit which forcefully asserts itself in time of need the executive and legislative branches of the Government, with the backing of the people, have inserted a golden page in our history.

It fittingly portrays that peace hath its victories no less than war. Two and one-half million people have been entirely relieved of all Federal taxation. One of the first essentials in the work of making the Federal Government a real business organization was the welding of the various departments and independent establishments into a harmonious, efficient concern.

We found 43 independent departments and establishments each operating under its own customs and rules, utterly regardless of the existence of other departments which were parts of the same great establishment, the United States of America.

There was little community of thought or harmony of action. Deep-seated hostility between certain Government agencies existed. That the National Government ought to be one great entity responsible for the happiness of ,, of people was entirely overlooked in the exclusive devotion of groups of Federal officials and employees to one particular subordinate department. This same obsession often characterized the relation between bureaus in the same department.

Heroic effort was needed to substitute national loyalty for department and bureau loyalty. Efficiency and economy in operation were hopeless under such conditions. The situation called for a revolution in the attitude of Government agencies toward each other.

Exclusive devotion to their subordinate even though important departments must give place to loyalty to the whole Government. To effect this great transformation a wide coordinating plan was put into effect. Representatives from the various departments and establishments were called together and organized into effective committees and boards to simplify and unify procedures and eliminate tortuous, wasteful, and unbusinesslike methods.

In this way all the major activities of the Government were studied and harmonized by the efforts of our own personnel. Out from this study and effort sprang a business that organization compares favorably with like establishments in the business world in efficiency and unified control.

Harmonious cooperation has won. In pre-Budget days not a single administrative form indicated there was such a thing as a National Government. The several departments had their own business forms in varying and confusing mutiplicity. To-day we have 38 Federal forms displacing the many hundreds that served to confuse business and add to the cost of government. Not a single specification contributed to good Government business.

To-day we have standardized specifications which cover in large part the entire field of Federal requirements. We are using one uniform Government lease in place of several hundreds of departmental leases, while uniform construction and supply contracts in connection with our standardized specifications are contributing daily to good business and material saving. Our great real estate and rental interests, our hospitalization, our buying, selling, and printing, our patent interests, and office methods are subject to the same careful study and supervision.

Out in the field we have our area coordinators and our Federal business associations with 63 more in the making. These unique Government agencies are spreading the gospel of efficient government economically administered. They are our most trenchant exponents of cooperation.

The intangible savings resulting from this coordinating work amounts into millions yearly. The work is not spectacular, but it is the very foundation of good business. I believe that the Federal Government to-day is the best-conducted big business in the world. To these faithful workers in our coordinating agencies, in Washington and elsewhere, the country owes a great debt of gratitude. This picture of widespread commitment to good government throughout the service - and extravagant government is not good government - is most inspiring and encouraging.

We have demonstrated that saving results from efficiency, and efficiency comes from saving. Largely because of such work as this, less than two years from the time when the lowest point was reached, the country was very generally restored to normal conditions. From that time on there has been an upward swing, broken only by short static periods or slight temporary recessions. The closing months of and the opening weeks of have seen American industry and commerce at the highest point ever attained in time of peace.

In order to understand more clearly what the effect of these efforts has been on the country, it is only necessary to compare some of the major economic factors of with those of The output of our factories increased during that interval nearly 60 per cent; in some cases, such as iron and steel production, it was more than doubled. The production of the mining industries as a group was at least 50 per cent greater last year than seven years before.

Norman Thomas 2. Government control of business was necessary during the war World War One , but unfettered business has made America the great nation it is. Warren Harding 3. Business and property should not be favored in our laws and courts over the general welfare of the people. Herbert Hoover 4. Honest business should be free of government restrictions, but it should also work with government to stop unfair business practices that lead to government regulation.

Edward Purinton: "The finest game is business. The rewards are for everybody, and all can win. Steward William Munro: "The true test of an economic order is whether it tends to promote a wide diffusion of material comfort among all classes of the people. From this tremendous acceleration of life, the American has no escape.

Framing Questions What factors nurtured or weakened the unprecedented prosperity of the s? How did "prosperity" become a hallmark of national pride? How was the word adapted for political and psychological aspirations of the nation? What role did "workingmen" and labor unions play in the economic panorama of the period? Compare the Twenties' boom-and-bust with similar economic cycles before and after the decade.

Calvin Coolidge, Address before the American Society of Newspaper Editors , January 17, , full text, including "the chief business of the American people is business.

It is worth noting that almost every income group has a meaningful share of returns 10 percent or more with business income Chart. Even more striking is the business share of income reported in these lower-income brackets. Business activity, like employment and wages, is influenced by national and local economic conditions, the availability of credit, public policies like health care and taxes, and government regulations.

Given the importance of business at these low-income brackets, business conditions may be of even greater concern to lower-income Americans than to the rich. The distribution of business income supplements that analysis to show that government actions that either support or inhibit business development concern and influence the economic well-being of many more people than those considered rich. Policies, such as such as health care, taxes, and bank credit, are likely of equal or greater interest to those farther down the income ladder who have set a course to use business as their pathway to economic success.

Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. Internal Revenue Service. We assume that individual businesses move from the income to loss category as often as year to year depending on national and local economic conditions and the viability of the business.

He has 35 years of experience working at the intersections of energy, economics and public. He is an advisor to.

Employment Futures and Fed Policy. The pandemic shock and ensuing recovery induced seismic shifts in the. COVID incidence. Summer has passed. Fall is here and so is the annual flu season. These trends include total cases, new cases, testing, and percent positives.